


Together

by asterism87



Category: Blade (Movie Series)
Genre: Found Family, Gen, Kid Fic, Platonic Female/Male Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 11:45:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9489728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asterism87/pseuds/asterism87
Summary: One hundred ways to say I love you featuring: an adopted daughter, co-parenting, and family bonding





	1. “Pull over.  Let me drive for awhile.”

**Author's Note:**

> A big thank you to my friend and beta reader @maritimegothic!

When Blade had tried to hand off the little girl wiggling in his arms to her before hopping on a plane to Moscow, Karen had thought he had lost his mind. She cocked her head, blinked, opened her mouth, then closed it when she couldn’t find the words to adequately encompass the foolishness in front of her eyes. She pinched the bridge of her nose, took a deep breath and said, through gritted teeth, “You’re not leaving me with a kid.”

Blade remained impassive as the little girl placed a particularly well aimed kick to his ribs.

“I’m not taking her with me.”

“And your only other thought was to leave her with me? Where are her parents?”

“She belonged to Deacon.”

_Belonged_. Like a trophy or a doll. Although maybe a fighting bull would be a better description with the way her legs hadn’t stopped moving since Blade had shown up with her at the back of the apothecary’s shop that Karen now used as a clinic. The little girl had fire, she’d give her that.

She was thin, not necessarily scrawny but still a little slender for her age. She didn’t look older than 10. Her hair was pulled back in two puffs and her face into a snarl; when she wasn’t baring her fangs she was probably cute as a button. Karen heaved a sigh. Her resistance was slipping already but she refused to give in this easily, goddammit.

“This girl is a vampire isn’t she.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes.”

“How is she supposed to feed?”

Blade shifted the girl into a fireman’s carry like she weighed nothing, her kicks and newly introduced fists crinkling the leather of his jacket but little else. A strong punch against what sounded like the middle of Blade’s back was so loud that Karen could feel it in her teeth. She winced in sympathy but Blade paid the girl no mind. He rifled through his pockets, looking for what Karen didn’t know. Coming up empty, he huffed a quiet sigh and readjusted the girl’s weight on his shoulder. “Animal blood. I’d suggest you get acquainted with your local butcher.”

“Our local butcher,” Karen replied absentmindedly as she tried to figure out how exactly Blade expected her to take care of a little girl capable of killing her with one well placed kick.

“Karen.” At the sound of her name, she jerked her eyes from the girl’s legs and looked at Blade. He rarely said her name and he definitely never _asked_ for anything. “I need you to do this for me. Please.”

She noted the tension in his jaw, the barely there clenching of his fists, and the pleading in his eyes that he probably didn’t even know was there. Karen rolled her eyes, huffed, and said, “Fine. But you’re helping me.”

 

\----

 

In the backseat of the car, Mariah lay docile in Blade’s arms. After she had kicked herself into exhaustion and realized that the two adults around her weren’t going to pay any attention to her until she was still, she had simply gone limp.  Supplying her name, Mariah told them that Deacon was her father (“Can vampires even have children Blade?” He had simply swallowed loudly and clutched her a little tighter in his arms) and allowed herself to be held by Blade as they slid into the back of his car. Karen took the driver’s seat, her eyes constantly flicking to the mirror as if to keep tabs on Mariah. Foolish. Her blood didn’t even smell that good and Mariah didn’t kill for sport. She turned her face into the darkness of Blade’s shirt to avoid the suspicious eyes directed at her through the mirror; if only she could stop the feeling of that gaze on her back. 

Karen started the engine and the car began moving in the direction that Mariah could only assume was home. She let herself drift. The sound of the tires rolling over asphalt, of Blade’s deep breaths and Karen’s quicker ones were enough to lull her into a light sleep. But 15 minutes later, the clanging roller-coaster dip of riding over a pothole  was enough to wake her out of it.

Blade leaned forward slightly and said quietly, “Pull over. Let me drive for a while.”

“We’ll be home in like 10 minutes. There’s not much driving left to do.”

Mariah could feel Blade take one of his arms from her back. The subsequent sickening swerve of the car told Mariah where it went. “Blade I swear to god-”

“Pull over,” he said as if he hadn’t just almost made Karen drive into oncoming traffic with what he had done with his hand. His chest was rumbling minutely with what Mariah could only assume was laughter; clearly he had done something he wasn’t supposed to.

  
Karen muttered something so quietly under her breath that not even Mariah could hear it properly but she pulled the car over. Doors opened, Blade moved, and where there had been muscled arms and dark leather, there was now white fabric and soft skin. Karen held her arms around her hesitantly but Mariah was too tired to care. Chasing the scent of rust, antiseptic, and herbs, Mariah buried herself in Karen’s arms and slept.


	2. "It Reminded Me of You."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to @princebenjaminflorian for being my beta!

Karen was, quite frankly, at the end of her rope. Being ignored for two weeks would do that to a person. She grabbed her cup of coffee and took a sip while thoughtfully looking over the rim at the little girl -- Mariah, she should use her name-- sitting on the couch sucking on a blood bag like a Capri Sun. All of her attention was focussed on the way her legs dangled off the couch, kicking them back and forth like she was on a swing only she could see. Karen inhaled deeply through her nose.

“I’ll be heading to the clinic soon.”

This part of the day was more ritual than anything else. She placed her cup in the sink and turned on the faucet. Keeping an ear out for a noise from the couch, Karen let her mind wander as she went through the routine of cleaning her cup.

Ever since Blade left for Moscow, Mariah had shut down completely. The first night they spent alone together, Karen kept a stake under her pillow and garlic spray clutched in her fist; the UV lights that she had Blade install tinged her room in a deep purple. But it was all for nothing. On the third day, Karen dimmed the UV lights. On the fifth she put the garlic spray back in the drawer where it belongs and by day seven even her stake just lay underneath her pillow in the name of habit more than anything else. Mariah hadn’t so much as looked -- let alone walked -- in her direction during that first week.

Karen put her cup on the drying rack. She grabbed a towel and dried her hands. At least Mariah was comfortable sharing space with her now. Karen walked out of the kitchen, threw on her white coat, and tossed a glance at the girl, still sipping her blood bag idly, before heading out the door.

“Alone again?” Darren asked from behind the counter as Karen pushed her way into his shop, the back of which she used as her clinic.

“You want kids don’t you Darren?”

“What’d she do this time?” Sympathy colored his words.

“Nothing,” she deadpanned. The sleeves of her white coat scrunched up as she laid her arms on the counter, leaning low. 

“And the problem is?”

She ran a hand through her hair, frustrated. “Blade left her with me and I just….she still won’t talk to me.” 

Darren reached across the counter and patted her hand. “People go at their own pace Karen. Who knows what Deacon did to her. You have to give her time.”

Karen sighed, then nodded.

“There’s some new samples back there if you wanna take a look. A couple clients said they’d be back later tonight.”

Karen offered him a rueful smile and straightened up. “Thanks.”

 

\---

 

She wasn’t doing it on purpose. With Blade it was easy: he didn’t talk a lot and she had never talked much even when she was with Deacon so being with him felt like more of the same only with fewer parties and less blood coming from the ceiling. And it wasn’t as if Karen was particularly talkative either but whenever she asked her a question Mariah clammed up.

“Do you want to come with me to the clinic today?”

“I’m heading to the butcher would you like to come with me?”

“Can you eat things other than blood? How about I make you something?”

“Would you like to see a movie tonight?”

Mariah had never had someone ask her questions about what she wanted to do and where she wanted to go before. With Deacon her options never extended beyond the house; she could go between the basement, the archives and the living room however she pleased but beyond that? Impossible. She chewed on her straw pensively and looked out the window. The sun was high in the sky there’s no way she was going anywhere. With a sigh and a final slurp, she heaved herself off the couch and went back to her room.

In her desk was some of the colorful construction paper that Karen had bought for her last week. It was a little thick for what she wanted but it was all she had. Hopefully it would be enough.

 

\--

 

Karen rubbed her keys between her fingers as she walked up to the door of her apartment. The work at the clinic had been a nice distraction (God bless Darren) but here she was anxious about walking into her own home because of a 10 year old who probably just didn’t like her. She was allowed to dislike things and maybe Karen just had to get used to the fact that she would never be one of Mariah’s favorite people. She put the key in the lock and and pushed the door open.

It was two things really.

First: Mariah was sitting at the kitchen table facing the door. She had a bowl in her hands that she was clutching almost nervously but for once her eyes were focussed intently and solely on Karen.

Second: inside the bowl were very small pieces of color.

Karen closed the door behind her and walked over to the table, putting her hand on the chair across from Mariah before looking at her, silently asking for permission. Now that she was closer she could see that the colorful pieces weren’t just random flecks but what looked to be pieces of origami folded into stars; they looked like candy.

Mariah bit her lip and said, quietly, “Please sit.”  Karen sat down and waited, giving Mariah time. Mariah’s fingers flexed against the bowl before she pushed it slowly across the table. “For you.”

Karen’s eyes flicked down and she gently picked up a green star. Her fingers explored its shape, noting the rounded tips and the endearing plumpness of the center. The construction paper felt soft, as if it had been rubbed and folded so many times that it couldn’t maintain its stiffness. Karen sniffed, her eyes watering a little bit. “These are beautiful. Is it really ok for me to keep them?”

Mariah shrugged. “It reminded me of you.”

Karen swallowed around the lump growing in her throat. She placed the star back with its companions before wrapping her hands around the bowl, tracing her thumbs along the rim. “Would you like to come to the clinic with me tomorrow?”

Mariah smiled.

  
“Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long for me to get this up. Life got in the way but I'll try not to go as long without updating again!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! This fic will update every Saturday :)


End file.
